Without being pretentious, Matthew Cooper creates a record of unmistakable beauty. Full of sweeping melodies and lush string arrangements, Copia is the perfect escapist album. Let it take you where it will.

Despite its short 31 minute playtime, The Death of Day forms an incredibly poignant atmosphere. The depth of this indie/post-rock album is enormous, with new excellencies found on each enticing listen. Of all its triumphs though, it is the warmth of the hope the album provides that establishes it as a classic. Merrit's soaring and diverse vocals, the wavering guitar harmonies, and the driving bass all resonate some sort of utopian hope that is not found in hardly any albums. Essential stuff right here imo.

My girlfriend explained to me once why she enjoyed hearing a particular speaker talk. She said that throughout the main body of his speech, she was always wondering what the point was or where the speaker was going. But, at the very end of the speech, the speaker ALWAYS said something that made the entire talk click instantly. That is EXACTLY what Axe to Fall does for me. While I know that the album is good in the middle of it, I'm waiting hopefully for something to make it click, for it all to make sense. And then I began to hear those oddly distorted guitar notes of Wretched World and I fall in love.

Just as gorgeously conceived and composed as Copia, only slightly unhinged. As the reviews for this have noted, this is not an accident. Beauty in this world hardly ever comes to us without some flaw - yet with Nightmare Ending Cooper shows us that beauty does not have to be defined by perfection. And thank God for that.

This album drips with emotion. Jimmy Ryan's screams are at their best on Burning Bridges, and lyrically this is brilliant. Few albums have moved me like this one. I don't know why it captures me the way it does, but it definitely does.

After a month and absolutely non-stop play, I can say that this is an exceptional album. A wonderful blend of heavy and light, glorious experimentation, and superb replay value. Each song is diverse in it's own way, amazing in it's own way, yet the album flow is second to none. Can't wait for their new album in early 2010.

Why you ask? Because when all is bared, this is a fantastic, anthem driven mother fucker of a rock album. The Darkness understand themselves as a parody, and yet on Permission to Land still manage to craft unbelievably crisp rock music. Get Your Hands Off My Woman, I Believe in A Thing Called Love, Love is Only a Feeling, Growing on Me, Love on the Rocks With No Ice, and even Holding My Own are all superbly written songs. If there isn't a sick riff, there's a catchy hook. If there's no hook, there's a crazy riff. And finally, let's be honest: who the fuck else can sing like this guy? His high soprano has the potential to become grating, but then he transitions into a very palatable lower tone. Permission to Land is a complete rock record, hearkening back to the classic rock of old, while at the same time injecting a welcome freshness into the music scene of the past 15 years. You only have to watch the music video for I Believe in A Thing Called Love to know what I mean.

been listening all afternoon and it's once again a Darnielle-masterpiece complete with a slightly darker atmosphere and perfect string arrangements. and Darnielle's explanation of the album is spot on: "If you have ever watched say a 70s occult-scare movie where one of the scenes involves a few people visiting a storefront fortune teller, getting their cards read, and then trying to feel super-hopeful about their predicted outcome when what they're visibly actually feeling is dread, then you have a pretty decent idea of what the album is all about."

With Beggars, Thrice reach the epitome of their craft. Refined yet aggressive, the band manages to grasp all aspects of their sound over the years and subtly weave them into every second of Beggars. From the airy atmosphere of Circles to the conviction of Beggars, Thrice's latest album includes every reason why we love them. Beggars envelopes the sound of Thrice into a masterpiece. Oh, and of course, lyrically it is perfect.

Life-changing post-rock that will change your life. Second only to Eluvium's Copia (if that's post-rock) on my short list of essentials in the genre. Moving, grand, epic, depressing, sad, joyful, violiny, awesome. What have you. Just please listen.

I'm not really sure why some people don't like this. It contains some of Coheed's best tracks: No World For Tomorrow, The Running Free, Gravemakers & Gunslingers. The End Complete series rivals The Willing Well, and the pop sensibilities found on tracks like Feathers and Mother Superior are the best executed of the band's career.

A much better combination of the talents of Matthew Cooper and Charles Buckingham. Second track "Strange Footing" is a standout ambient number, throwing distorted ambience over a consistent reverbed beat. The album's three songs flow much more cohesively than 9.22.07, and hopefully Concert Silence take their project in this direction.

On Mantra, In Vain do everything exactly right except for one thing. The black metal swirls and screams pierce, the death metal riffs and growls rip, and the soaring melodic vocal harmonies....well, soar. The band refines their progressive approach to death/black metal as well, with more overt acoustic sections and one very blues-like track that shouldn't fit but does (Mannefall). In fact, I would say they do all of these things perfectly, and this album could be a classic if not for this hindrance:"Wayakin." The song is basically 9 minutes of a Native American man talking about owls and wolves and lands being taken away with some riffs thrown in. This would be cool if these guys had a Native American ancestry, but they're not even American, so it is incredibly contrived. Eliminate "Wayakin" and In Vain have created another classic progressive metal masterpiece. rRecommended Tracks: Captivating Solitude; Ain't No Lovin'; Dark Prophets, Black Hearts; On the Banks of the Mississippi; Sombre Fall, Burdened Winter (basically all of them but Wayakin)

TFLI is not a Weakerthans album. It's a Jim Bryson and The Weakerthans album. As a huuuge Weakerthans fan, that took me a long time to come to terms with, but as I let myself enjoy Bryson's lyrics without comparing them to Samson's I discovered a record that is intimate, warm, and meticulously (but not boringly) performed. I'd encourage anyone who dismissed this after their first listen to listen 10 more times; the subtleties here will slowly begin to leak out and you'll realize you are listening to an album on par with the best of 2010.

Good God this is fantastic. Bemis is quite impressive, and the band creates riffs and melodies that make this the catchiest (not to mention most clever) album of 2009.
Standout tracks: Hate Everyone, Less Cute, Mara and Me, and Ahhh... Men.
"Fake players are the ones who play the game"

This is my first experience with TBS, and wow, this album rocks. There's not a filler on this thing. Lazzara carries the album, crooning over perfectly placed guitar melodies and bass fills. His lyrics are excellent, full of wit and sarcasm, and the alternative take on pop punk is executed very well. I can't stop listening.

The History of Apple Pie don't care if you think well-crafted shoegaze is old hat. They don't care if you've already listened to the Pumpkins or Silversun Pickups or Cocteau Twins or A Sunny Day in Glasgow or mbv or any other fuzzed out act. All The History of Apple Pie care about is creating layer after layer of catchy, nostalgia-driven rock n roll that bounces along in dream pop furnishings. Sure, it's been done before. So what.

You can't fucking understand a word he says and when maybe you catch one it is usually "fuck" or "n***a" or "cook" or "shit" but you're too busy bouncing and yelling the monosyllablic nothings Gotti yells so you don't give a fuck.

If Forgiveness Rock Record kept up with the pace it sets with the first two songs (World Sick and Chase Scene) it would have run away with AOTY honors. Instead, the first two tracks are the best here, and the collaborative becomes too artsy fartsy for its own good on parts of the record. Tracks such as Forced Love, Meet Me in the Basement and Romance to the Grave are still golden, but a refinement of the art rock/indie/borderline pretentious sound seems to be in order for the great Broken Social Scene.

Catchy, technical, and awesome. BUT, the accent of the singer is awful. The review claims that the accent is not noticable, yet it is what prevented this album from being a 4/4.5 for me. Get this album but be ready to laugh a bit at the accent.

Sound Awake wins the award for most difficult album to rate of '09. After months of listening and re-listening, I still really could give this anything from a 3-4. The progressive tendencies on Themata are given definition on Sound Awake, and the result is good, but unsettling. Gone are the hooks and in their place are well-written compositions. The progressiveness of Sound Awake also creates a lengthy record which at some points fails to keep its head above water. Overall, a great album, but is it more? Or is it less?

While a great album, Souvenirs is a bit too simple minded. Yeah, it's still effing gorgeous, but it doesn't have the awe effect so crucial with a band like this. I like Souvenirs but thank God for Ecailles.

Somewhat disappointing. Devine and Hull don't really mesh as well as I'd thought they would. At times it almost seems like they wrote songs individually and compiled them on this record. Hopefully it will grow on me with repeated listens.

What's good here is very good, but what isn't good is pretty horrible. It's difficult to admit an expectation-ridden album doesn't fit the bill, but all J. Cole gives us with Born Sinner is a handful of greatness enveloped by truly average cuts filled with the same bitches-ain't-shit tropes. See Power Trip, Runaway, Rich Niggaz, and maybe Villuminati for the great.

Andy Hull's side project succeeds at being different from MO. However, it doesn't succeed as being an enticing listen. The album drags on, and Hull's lyrics can't quite save it from being boring. Hull slows everything WAY down and offers up some well-written but very monotonous acoustic music.

This album and band have received a lot of heat. But this album shows such maturity and advancement from their last two. The vocals are raw and improved, the guitar work is more intricate, and the drumming, while not spectacular, keeps pace wonderfully. Also, Hranica is a great, great lyricist. TDWP is definitely getting better.

Babel does absolutely nothing to improve upon the glimpses of hope found on Sigh No More. Seriously. Same song writing, same stupid tropes, and the same annoying banjo twanging samey shit each and every song. So why is this even a 2.5? Because despite their glaring flaws and weird ungression (there's no degression or progression here), Mumford and Sons are admittedly cute and endearing. And they have some good one-liners. But honestly.

Vocals suck, experimentation is lame, and iwrestledabearonce is just annoying, not fun. The girl sounds like she's burping into the mic, and her cleans are forced. Gimmicks, and some alright breakdowns/weird passages save this from going into the 1's. God, her screams suck.

There is nothing that isn't truly stunning and perfect about this record. Every note, every second is true and utter catharsis; every sound that occurs is perfectly orchestrated to flawlessly illustrate complete doom--and that is something that is so emotionally close to my soul. I can't thank this amazing group enough for blessing me with this. This is perhaps the most life-changing record I've ever heard, and it is my favorite work of art of all time.

Mayday Parade suffers immensely from the loss of Jason Lancaster on Anywhere But Here. Lancaster delivered excellent, emotional, well-written lyrics on Mayday's debut LP Lesson in Romantics. Also, Mayday no longer has a dual vocal attack, and without him, Mayday is just another pop/punk band, making catchy music that is only that. Unfortunately, it's not catchy enough to warrant many listens. Jason Lancaster, please come back.

I'll never understand the appeal of womp and giant bass hits. I literally feel like my ears are getting raped, like my whole body is being raped but not in the wild fantasy nice rape way but like the Leviathan with a tattoo gun way. I feel violated after listening to this so...2, poor.

Yeah.......ummmmmmmmmmmmmm...........no. Horrible lyrics are horrible. Some screams are alright, but others are unbearably scraped from the vocalist's throat. Music is quite generic. Yeah, this just isn't any good.